Building a five-year strategy with Southway Housing Trust
- Cube Thinking team
Southway Housing Trust is a committed and forward-thinking community-focused housing association dedicated to providing excellent homes and outstanding customer care.
With a vision of Thriving Communities, Southway manages over 6,000 homes across Greater Manchester.
The challenges
John Bowker, a first-time CEO in the social housing sector, faced the immediate task of launching a new corporate plan. The board collectively agreed to bring in a consultant to guide the process.
The goal was clear: establish a five-year strategy with defined objectives, new values, a refreshed vision, and a clear mission.
Cube Thinking was invited to tender, standing out as the only firm unfamiliar to the board.
Despite competition from larger firms, John chose Jason Kingston of Cube Thinking for three key reasons:
- Cost-effective, delivering strong value for money.
- A clear understanding of the brief and an immediate, natural connection with John.
- Incredible references from other housing associations who had worked with Jason previously.
Jason facilitated workshops to define the business direction, offering deep insights into the housing sector. He structured and streamlined Southway’s ideas into a tangible corporate plan.
Key actions included:
- Running a Board workshop to gather input from all stakeholders.
- Organising and synthesising insights into a structured first draft.
- Incorporating culture, continuous improvement, data and technology considerations into the plan.
- Working closely with the senior team to align functional strategies with the emerging 5 year Business Plan.
- The corporate plan was approved by the Board.
- A clear framework was established to achieve strategic objectives.
- Southway gained a structured roadmap for success in the next five years.